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- Jul 13, 2012
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http://zt.kaiusaltd.com/blog/inside-a-zt-limited-run
Our Director of Sales and Marketing, Thomas Welk, takes you inside ZT for special insight on our Limited Edition knives.
Both of our brands, Zero Tolerance Knives and Kershaw Knives, have "boutique" or limited edition runs that show up on occasion. While these limited edition knives are not our core business, we do enjoy creating them for our valued customers.
We always produce these knives to be used. When it comes to specifications, quality, and technology, they incorporate the latest and greatest our industry has to offer. We don't build these knives as an investment, but we do understand that some of our past and present limited runs are quite popular, and have a strong secondary presence in the marketplace. Yet it does pain us to think of any of these knives as "safe queens," that is, knives that are kept for their value rather than their utility.
When we do these special runs, we may put out a target number of knives we hope to produce. This is never an exact number, but an estimate that assists our Sales Dept. when selling to our dealer base. The target number is just that, a target. In fact, of all the boutique runs we have produced, we have never hit the target number of our estimated production run exactly.
Production considerations play a large role in how many of any specific product are actually manufactured. There can be "fall out," complications, and some knives in the run can even be scrapped entirely if the knife is particularly challenging to make. In these cases, the number of knives produced can fall short of the intended target. The opposite is also true. There can be less "fall out" (we hope!), and products can come together even better than projected.
For these reasons, it is impossible to work to exact target numbers. The reality of production is that the actual number will be whatever it is. Shortages bring on frustrations from the dealers, as there isn't enough to go around. Overages usually make our dealers happy, as there is more than enough product to satisfy demand. For end users, a boutique run that doesn't meet its target can be considered rare and desirable. This is what happens with most of our limited editions.
—Thomas Welk, Director of Sales & Marketing, Sporting Division
The Zero Tolerance 0560CBCF is an example of one of our limited edition boutique runs. This one is styled like the 0560, but with a striking Composite Blade and carbon fiber handles.
It seems that when most folks come to the forums to complain, they tell half the story. The perceived or actual flaw in a knife. Yet there is no conclusion, every story needs a conclusion. So someone will feverently write one of many of the following:
